David Robert Nygren (born December 30, 1938) is a particle physicist known for his invention of the time projection chamber. He is currently a Presidential Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Arlington. He has worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 1973. He has been called "the most distinguished developer of particle detection instruments in the country". Nygren earned his B.A. degree at Whitman College in 1960, and his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1967. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Honors and awards